Berry Important? Wolf Provisions Pups with Berries in Northern Minnesota

2020, Feb

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Homkes, A.T., Gable, T.D., Windels, S.K. and Bump, J.K. (2020), Berry Important? Wolf Provisions Pups with Berries in Northern Minnesota. Wildl. Soc. Bull., 44: 221-223.

https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wsb.1065

Wolves (Canis lupus) primarily provision pups by catching mammalian prey and bringing remains of the carcass to the pups at a den or rendezvous site via their mouths or stomach. In August 2017, we observed an adult wolf regurgitating wild blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) to pups at a rendezvous site in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, Minnesota, USA, which is the only known observation of wolves provisioning pups with wild berries. This observation, in combination with other evidence from the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, suggests wild berries might be a more valuable food source for wolves in southern boreal ecosystems than previously appreciated. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.